Log:Mandalore: Poachers

Poachers

OOC Date: January 12, 2025
Location: Mandalore - The Rage Lands
Participants: Bizz Bliptettjupp, Amaia Dara, Narsai Ordo, Sumi Kora, Ben Relor, Jallo Dara, Cin'cirad Rook, Tarek Vizaan, and Hadrix Kora as GM

The Glass Plains northwest of Iron Mountain are among those least often traversed while the unification wars proceed. Tendrils of the mountain roots running along the continental borders, and within them the potential of Mandalorian Iron to be found.

Investigators had been dispatched, with the intention of finding where the rest of these Iron Poachers were stationed out of. Swatting a few here and there would slow them, but not stop them. And if they're smart it'll make them go to ground.

So Mandalore requested to track, first. Find them, find their path. Wiping them out would come, but in a savage blow rather than a thousand deaths.

Right now scouts had found of those teams of Iron Poachers on planet, but it was up to the hunters' actions to determine next steps.

"I still think we would have been in a better position if I had been allowed to attach treads to my mortar cannon." Mai Dara, don't mind her, she's simply mumbling to herself. And thankfully, she isn't on team comms. To the outside world, she simply look as though she was, well, what she was. A tallish warrior, clad in armor bearing the colors and insignia of Clan Dara, occasionally checking the readout on her HUD and comparing it to data on her wrist computer. No weapons drawn but her vambraces were clearly activated. She did not go undefended.

Mandalore was home, home to their people, their history, their culture...and of course the ever-valuable Mandalorian Iron. It wasn't the first time Narsai had come across those who had stolen Beskar or attempted to harvest it on some larger scale...but the brazeness to land on Mandalore itself rather than try for one of the moons? Well, the Ordo Alor could imagine the only thing more foolish was trying to take it off live Mando'ade on the planet.

With her T-visor in place, her blaster pistols holstered an the beskad sheathed at the small of her back, Narsai considers for a moment. 

<"We could catch and interrogate them, but if they're paranoid enough to have regular check-ins? We'd have to ensure we gave ourselves enough time to work.>

Sumi finishes a smoke and tosses it to the ground, sighing out a small plume whilst picking her helmet back up. "So we're just supposed to track them? Or can we kill them?" Sumi pulls her helm down, then adjusts it, feline ears permanently erect and connecting with their encrypted net. As her HUD came online, she's left looking into the distance weighing the likelihood of simply jumping in and causing a big mess of things, or simply following another's lead.

<"..so.. violence or.. no violence?">

Every group of hardened warriors needs at least one scrappy sidekick, and while Ben Relor would absolutely bristle at such a title...in this case, it's what he is. He somehow convinced the Mandalorians that they might be in need of an enthusiastic demo-tech with an anger problem, i.e., himself. So here he is, dressed in scouts armor, probably loaded to the gills with explosives, and with his battered R5 astromech droid, Five, in tow.

He smokes his own cigarette, glancing over at the others, and Sumi in particular, with a smirk. "I thought you folks generally preferred the violent route. Or is there a way of being yourselves without it?" Said, oddly enough, with a kind of respect. He has it, even if he might not admit it.

Jallo walks along near Amaia nodding a bit as he listened to her talking about treads on a mortar, <"Treads on the mortar would have been nice however until we figure out what we're dealin with wouldn't know how much munition wise we'd need."> His helmet turns towards Sumi and he shrugs, <"I'm of the mindset that we should see what we're up against then determine the amount of violence that should be brought upon it. A statement must be made and folks need to see that it's not wise to continue said actions.">

One of the other Mandalorians, this one not part of any of the other clans present, in fact they don't see to have any clan markings. His head turning to look at the others as they are all, he gives a bit of a shrug as he looks through the HUD as well. Blinking to flick through the different settings and check for any telltale signs of people passing through recently. He grunts and nods his head, finally turning to look at Mai Dara, <"Mortars would've been nice. But why not just set it up on repulsors at that point?"> Another few blinks to try and switch to more convenient filters.

In the mix with the others, Hadrix is hunkered while reviewing a feed sent to his HUD by Gripper on recon. Mouth pursed within the confines of his helmet.

<"Violence, I like... But these shavits are like sand-ticks if we smash early..."> One hand lifting to pinch the end of Ben's smoke, adding "And that is a give away for sensitive eyes or noses" before crushing the lit ember out.

Several of the Journeymen present looking to the complaining Ughnaut, helmed heads tilting to one side before they look to one another. Bizz is offered a bottle of kri'gee by one of them before another Journeyman in black hued armor comments, "We'll get your equipment back, if Mandalore has sanctioned your presence..."

Not a small touch of confusion in their tone.

Beyond, in a valley formed between green glass that had once been the desert terrain of Mandalore a pair of sputtering vehicles using a combination of repulsor and conventional tyre'd wheels move with a half dozen in desert world robes walk. Metal detectors and other equipment on hand while they take their survey passes.

On top of either of the vehicles, ring turret mounted repeater cannons turn under the control of operators swathed in environment suits and light cloth meant to dissipate heat before it reaches the body.

Mai's mutterings, of course, were never masked from Jallo. Such was the lot in life of one who had dedicated comms to her Alor at all times. Helmeted head turned towards Jallo. And despite the lack of face, the gesture spoke in spades. 'Do you even know me?', that turn said. Her tone, though, was as conversational as ever, as she replied to the comment, <"There is always room for more munitions."> To the question posed regarding repulsors, <"I prefer tech that can also serve to grind my enemies under my feet.">

A ping on her HUD brought her focus back, and Mai sidestepped, finding a suitable outcropping, if such a one existed, to take a knee, adjusting the visual controls of her helm to allow her to scan the figured in the distance. After a fee seconds, her work voice came across, <"I see no marking of any clan or affiliated group. And it doesn't have the cobbled together look of the sort of equipment our desert dwellers make use of. I count...3 per moving asset, plus ground troops. Twelve that I can see." Heading away from us, into the wastes."

Narsai herself hunkers down, gaze focused on the foes as she drew her gaze over the camp. Vision magnification sweeping through the camp she frowned beneath the mask of her helmet, nodding her way through Mai's words while she ddoes her own scouting. <"I can see antennae on their vehicles, but beyond that we've got no certainty they don't have other long range communications somewhere.">

<"Anyone's vessel have jammers on it? Can probably have it set here, jam the whole rekking area for now. It would mean we can't talk, but just the same for them. Between storms and other anomalies on this world, it's not uncommon for comms to drek the bed."> Sumi says after listening to both of the ladies report what they were seeing. Long range comms were the largest threat. Take it off the table, they could slip in... Sumi's mind is still on violence. But, this aligned with what Jallo said to her a second ago, and they could ascertain the size of the force... after they killed it. Sumi props one foot up on a rock and leans in, watching...

"Hey! I was gonna put it out!" Ben scowls at Hadrix when he snuffs out his cigarette, but he actually looks pretty chagrined. While the others assess the situation, he does the same -- taking out a pair of macrobinoculars and getting down in the dirt for a moment so he can scan the area. "Should've brought a jammer," he agrees with Sumi as he looks...to absolutely no avail, apparently. Ben frowns, knocking the binocs against his hand. "Stupid things are broken! I can't see shavit!"

Five whistles sympathetically at him, scanning the area as well -- but Ben must've forgotten to clean EVERYTHING that belongs to him, because the droid has no luck either, making a big BLART sound at Ben, who is still muttering curses.

Brother Bizz just drinks his Mandalorian kri'gee bitter beer while scenting for the sweet smell of wildcatter iron and dirt. Of course everything smells like dirt around here. He takes a scuffed datapad device from his robes to piggyback into one of the Mandalorian vision feeds provided by a journeyman, eyes growing wide at the mounted turrets. "They have very big blasters."

Jallo's letting the others do their part and starts to scan through the vehicles and intel the others pulled up, <"From what I can tell the lead vehicle is the one in charge. Which would make sense if they're Mandalorians."> His head looks up towards space and then shakes his head, <"Sorry nothing I brought has a jammer. Would have been nice.">

<"Unfortunately, I don't have any jammers either."> He moves up beside Ben and then pats the man on the shoulder, then fishes out a cloth that looks like it's smeared with some form of oil. It wouldn't even take that adept of a nose to catch the whiff of motor oil, gun oil, and some sort of harsh cleaning agent that clearly belonged in someones part cleaner. <"Here ya go, let me take a look."> He blinks toward the settings, zooming in on the vehicles. <"Hrmm..">

It takes him a couple more moments, and then adds in to Jallo's comments, <"Yeah... And it looks like they are both cobbled together on happy thoughts and jawa dreams. I bet a solid pop to that rear antigrav will put them in a world of hurt."> After his glance over the vehicles, he turns to look toward Mai, <"Oh yeah? Woman after my own heart. Grind 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.">

The vehicles shift their direction, at the behest of a motion from one of the figures walking near the slow trundling craft. Words in what might be a form of Bocce rise up, carried on the wind. Comments, for those who speak it, on possible hits and queries if they think it's actually beskar this time, and not just more buried scrap.

Discourse rattles off between the half dozen on the sands, shouted insults that are hushed by a bark from within the lead of the two vehicles. Ducking heads and causing the one who declared a signal found to begin tapping away at the controls of his equipment.

"It's a good notion."> Hadrix comments, to Sumi's note on jamming signals, looking about to the others before he shifts where he lay on the sand to look out at the surveyors.

The group continue to move, angling after the one who had called out earlier who seems to have been moved to point - waving their scanning equipment with the controlled stress of a person who might not like the sudden attention levied unto themselves. Their Sham Shield now in the open for all to see.

Another of the group lifts up their scanner, shouting something what be nikto now, gaining an uproar of muddled comments that temporarily brings the column to a momentary halt.

Mai's help turned only a fraction, back towards the group. <"Alor, I need your eye."> The mechanical one, you know, not the ones the Miraluka pointedly, you know, did not have. Mai lifted a hand, signaling, and waited until the seeker droid who was Jallo's constant companion hovered over to her side, <"Bud,"> he was her bud. "I need to you start a frequency scan, ignore ours, and look for signals active in the area. See if you can determine which are originating from the group ahead. And once you have a lock on them, if they start transmitting out, see if you can triangulate the destination location, okay? Please and thank you." Because politeness mattered. It was hard to give a thumbs up with only 3 fingers on a hand, but the seeker did his best, before he hovered away, now barely skimming the ground as he tried to get into a suitable position.

The sour look on Ben's face could curdle blue mlik, but he hands over the binocs to the guy without complaint. "Alright." He wipes his hands on his already dirty pants. "I'm gonna go sneak over there and plant some charges. Wish me luck. Five, you stay here."

Ben does indeed start to slowly crouch his way down the hill towards the vehicles...real stealthy-like...until the ground just gives out under his feet. He wasn't expecting there to be so many rocks here! So many rocks...that are forcing him all the way down, probably with many a hit to the bony butt. And despite his best intentions, he can't help but let out a yelp of surprise...

Sumi nodded. Admittedly, Sumi's ideas were relegated to doing violence, or doing violence quietly. She was not the best pick for scouting missions, but in the event things went pear-shaped, Sumi was the Mando you wanted in your corner.

When Mai spoke to her droid about triangulating comms, Sumi somewhat understood that, but not enough to give an order. This is why Zee'Roh traveled with her Alor, to pick up on things technological and step in; well, 'step' in. The droid anchored to her jetpack unclips and climbs so its optical sensor is looking over Sumi's shoulder. A female voice emits from the droid, annoyance and humor somehow paired when it addressed its Alor. "You know, Sumi... this is something I /could/ help with, hm?"

Sumi's response was first to chuckle. <"..do you need an invitation?">

Boosting the signal for the others, the former Ruus'alor of Kora gave her answer, and began to support Mai and Narsai's efforts. Sumi bides her time, leaning on her spear.

Jallo nods as Mai asks to use his droid, <"Of course. Eye do your stuff. I'm going to provide some overwatch for the brave fool."> He starts to sneak closer behind Ben and when Ben goes down the hill Jallo just sighs, <<"Expect chatter back to their base soon. We're likely going hot soon.">>

There's an audible sigh from the helmet as Ben doesn't seem to want to use the cloth. Is it because it's dirty? Probably because it smelled like a Parts Cleaner bucket. But... who doesn't have a parts cleaner? Like, that's just, another shake of his head. He glances over to Sumi, another chuckle then starts to move a bit further along the ridge of the valley. <"I got an idea. Maybe I can move a little away from the group, patch my comms into the Droids to help them out.">

He moves a bit along the ridge, staying low as he keeps an eye on the valley, the falling Ben, and roughly where he is. Starting to patch it into the droids, he loses his train of thought when he hears the falling Ben yelp, <"What?!"> And that made him blink on the wrong channel, <"AugGH!"> He grabs his helmet and falls down onto a knee, quickly turning it off... but not before getting an ear full of that whiny, comm static that's sure to leave ears ringing for at let a few seconds.

Tarek Vizaan is tracking the vehicles, weapons beyond his current equipment but is clearly waiting for the others to do their part. "Glad I had my comms off for now as that static seems quite painful." He chuckles a bit as he moves towards and edge and finds a rock to lower himself to get 'cover'.

Green stone, the glass melted from Imperial turbolasers striking the surface, is like a foaming river all around Ben. More and more dislodged and spinning through the air like glittering snowfall. The dappling of reflected and refracted emerald light thrown all over and turning heads from the survey team.

The Seeker droids had been in need of signals to latch onto after their initial scans begin picking up pings in their frequency nets when the rear vehicle suddenly buttons up, ring turret swinging in the direction of Ben's misadventure. If nothing else, Ben is able to get the three comms droids the signals they need to attempt to signal trace.

Voices rise and hands go for belts, drawing out rifles and blasters with the sudden confusion being roused by the ruckus.

If only they could properly describe the ruckus.

One of those on the ground shoulders a blaster with cloth wraps around the barrel, snarling something in... Is that Wee'quay? Huttese?

Cripes these offworlders.

<"Well..."> Hadrix notions, <"This might be your chance, Sumi..."> a bit of a rumbling chuckle as he speaks over comms.

As the interloper (that would be Ben) went down, and her Alor went after him, Mai Dara moved away from her covered position. She used all of the skills hard won trying to find a way to hide on a ship (not as easy as one would think) and kept ow and careful, moving across ground in careful fits and spurts, managing to avoid any pitfalls on the way. <"Well, that at least should get them talking. Anything, Bud?"> She did not expect miracles, but checking in couldn't hurt.

With her Seeker droid reporting possible frequencies and no way of knowing where they'd broadcast to, Narsai glances towards Hadrix, then Sumi, before the others start to move forwards. <<"Well, let's go ask them. We'll sneak in close. They spot us? They'll probably call out and we can track that.">>

<"So it is.."> Sumi answers Hadrix, rising up and flexing her shoulders. Zero detaches completely, left to hover where the others were concealed for the time being. Pulling the spear up, Sumi stepped back slightly and tilted her helmeted head. Internal components and her enhanced vision helped her focus a moment, narrowing in on a target: the driver of the lead vehicle. One, two, three, four steps in Sumi hurled the spear as hard as she could, using the jetpack at the last second for the extra momentum.

The result followed seconds later when the obsidian spear struck the windshield of the lead speeder and slipped through the glass, pinning the driver to the cab wall. Literally two seconds later, the front of the vehicle rocks as the soles of booted feet appear upon the windshield (Sumi). She pulls the spear back, the driver screamed. Then she slams it forward, eliminating any chance of survival in an instant. When he vomited blood, it spattered the interior windshield.

Yanking the weapon free, Sumi stepped over the cab and attempted to draw attention to her by, hopefully, engaging the rest of the crew on vehicle one. <"OYAAA!"> She yelled, dropping onto the bed and straightening, shield on one vambrace activating and her spear held at the ready!

"Oh, kark, kark...kark it all to hell!" Ben yells, even if he is looking awfully sparkling thanks to all that green stone he's kicked up, which is now coating his skinny butt and the rest of him. Five lets out a Patented Astromech Droid Scream(tm) as he rolls straight down the hill after him, despite Ben telling him to stay here. Droids, man. They never do what you say (at least, this one doesn't).

Once at the bottom of the hill, Ben's head jerks up to see Sumi kicking all sorts of ass on Vehicle Number One, so he runs like the determined wiry kid he is to make it over to the second vehicle, mysteriously interrupted as it is. He quickly packs a combination of thermite gel with detonite boosters all up on the rear of the truck. Arms the charges with a grunt and a satisfied grin of a job well-done, then goes sprinting away again, detonator in hand

"Let's see those fireworks!" His raspy voice calls out as his finger goes down on the button, and then...

B O O M ! ! !

The charge fires, and the explosion is so powerful that the truck is lifted into the air. It flips over itself, an entire 360, as the repulsors are targeted by the charges. Second spin around, the truck lands right on its nose -- and then the WHOLE thing is just GONE. The folks on the first truck can probably feel the blistering heat from that explosion. And they might be able to hear Ben Relor crowing and cackling like a karking lunatic while Five runs around in circles.

Jallo pops up from where he was moving forward to help Ben out. As the offworlder heads off towards the rear truck Jallo draws his pistol firing off three shots in quick succession at the gunner of the lead truck trying to draw attention towards him and not the guy with the... Explosives. The explosion has his ears ringing which doesn't realllly help his aim any.

As he winces from the static still he starts to hear the change in things. The sort of flow of battle that he's been used to for a long day. Looking back up, he's already pulling the rifle off his back. But, as if that wasn't enough of a clear answer to what was happening....

Well... The explosion definitely settled that question.

Even from this far away, he flinches down for a moment, Tucking in the rifle tighter to his shoulder, he stares down the sights. <"There you are..."> That lead vehicle was taking a beating. Between a spear through the window, and then Jallo laying into the turret gunner. So what would make it worse?

CRACK!

The rifle fires, the round hitting the person inside the vehicle, the only one that doesn't seem to have been hit yet. They take a round in the shoulder, the round blowing them off their seat where they land on the ground. Surely they're regretting even waking up today -- if they're still conscious enough to make that connection.

Tarek Vizaan has watches, seeing his current allies firing at the vehicles, one even blows up. He takes aim and as he fire one of the parts of the blow up vehicle lands on his helmet, nothing big just enough to disrupt his shot and goes.. who knows where, he storm troopered it!

Triangulation is going, but not finished off. The quality of the surveyor signals being what they are. But it's something to latch onto for one of the three seekers while they all work to get things pinned down. Chatter is rising, the rear vehicle still buttoned up, dropping armor-slats and trying to take off when the blue armored Mandalorian puts a spear through the front of the lead vehicle.

Well that is what the rear vehicle would have none, that's what they really would have preferred had they not ended up face down in the sand. The driver with the steering yolk jammed through their sternum and the turret gunner having been cast away on a wild, cartwheeling, adventure that plants them face first into the green glass hill. Rolling down to slide in the shale like material with their neck bent at an angle that can only be explained as... Well bad.

And then that rear truck had flat out exploded. So who really was the one who lost out? At least two guys got a cremation. That other guy will probably end up with lizard eggs in his skull.

Gross.

A pair of blue plasma sheated durasteel bolts slamming into the gun-shield on the vehicle manned weapon in the wake of Jallo and Tarek's own. The heavy wookiee pistol shots denting the turret protection before Hadrix's left hand lifts, thumbing the hammer of the massive revolver he carries there the whipcrack report signaling as sparks erupt near one of the other impact points.

"Kriff..."

The turret opens up then, spitting fire that is sawed side to side to try and reduce the ability for evasion, though to no effect as the big man rolls and lets gravity pull him out of the line of fire. A tip of his hand showing him the UR displaying empty on the ammo count and slapping it into a clip holster while he inspects the revolver cylinders of his Enforcer.

Sumi's intention of drawing fire definitely working, while some take shots on Clan Dara a veritable fusilade is set to reflect off of Alor'Kora's personal shield.

Mai Dara was out of range. Alas. But she rose from where the interloper no longer needed help, and reached down to retrieve one of her grenades. Nothing that would send shrapnel pelmel into friendly targets. A flick of the finger armed the adhesive grenade, and she tossed it on the fly. Of course, that was probably a terrible idea, as her aim was way off and it it back and to the right of the team, clearing them by a good distance. Well, that's what the rest of the grenades on her belt were for, yes? She kept moving.

Looking to take advantage of the moment of weakness, one of the crew lunge for her, but Sumi has recovered in an instant, twisting in place and using the spear to clotheslining them with a horizontal swing. They hit the deck back first, scramble to rise only to be pinned when Sumi orients the spear down and slams it through their chest. <"OYYYYYAAA! -- Hahaha!"> She yells, pulling the weapon free and trudging into the gaggle of them.

Shots plink and spark off surfaces all around Sumi, but she either doesn't hear it over her already horrendous tinnitus, or she ignores it mid-jiggy-jog. Jumping from her current position to one lower, she engages six of the ground forces in single combat. Landing hard, her ankle appears to take much of that weight and she favors it.

Looking to take advantage of the moment of weakness, one of the crew lunge for her, but Sumi has recovered in an instant, twisting in place and using the spear to clothesline them with a horizontal swing. They hit the deck back first, scramble to rise only to be pinned when Sumi orients the spear down and slams it through their chest. <"OYYYYYAAA! -- Hahaha!"> She yells, pulling the weapon free and trudging into the gaggle of them.

Stealth is out of the picture and well...Narsai wasn't that concerned by it. With Sumi's charge and battle cry? It was pretty clear to the survey team that the Mandalorians were here to voice their objections and so Narsai's weapon was swiftly draw, a first shot from the weapon sending rings of arcing blue into her target and dazing him before a quick flick of her thumb switched the power over to something a little more potent.

The shot hits, throwing the man to the ground unconcious as she keys her seeker droid. <"Ca'tra, look for their outgoing signals."> she instructs before making to key her comms open. <<"One down unconcious, scoop him up for questioning later.">>

It takes Ben several moments before he recovers from his laughing fit. It dissolves into a nasty smokers' cough, which gets a series of bleeps out of Five as Ben leans on him for breath. "I'm alright," he mutters, lifting his head to assess the situation. Still six dudes standing, even though the warriors in the group seem to have it MORE than covered. Relor can't help but try and add to the chaos, though. He pushes back his sleeve, raising the wrist rocket he wears and firing at the half-dead driver.

No such luck. His hands are shaking a little too badly, and the laser fires right past the man. "Son of a mudscuffer!" Ben kicks a rock with his toe, and is fortunately wearing durasteel toe boots, or that would probably hurt." Oh well...he's caused enough destruction for one day, right?

Tarek Vizaan shakes his head a bit as he straightens his helmet and looks at one of the ground mooks and then shifts a bit as he raises his weapon towards one of the mooks and then fires, taking out his leg, no more leg days for that man. "One down." He calls out to the others.

<"Oya."> The Mandalorian on the ridge says, agreeing with the cries from Sumi down below. Though his is much more subdued, not because he wasn't keyed up or agreeing as heartily, but because he needed to keep a steady aim if he wanted to keep putting rounds accurately down range.

His first thought was to go after the one in the turret. His rifle sweeping up and over, only to watch Jallo light that one up. The rifle then swiveling around toward another target, he sees the one that had been injured but still standing. Another squeeze of the trigger.

Another crack of the rifle.

Another dead man who can no longer shoot back at them.

Jallo's pistol barks off another two times as he continues walking towards the vehicle making sure that he's gotten somebody's attention as a couple of shots into the gunner. After they slump and are no longer a threat to the team his attention turns towards the ground mooks pistol going back into the holster since it doesn't believe in stun mode so instead he reaches back to grab a baton that's strapped to his back plate toggling it and engaging the San-Ni staff the crackling energy sounding as he starts towards the ground folks.

Tarek Vizaan shakes his head a bit as he straightens his helmet and looks at one of the ground mooks and then shifts a bit as he raises his weapon towards one of the mooks and then fires, taking out his leg, no more leg days for that man. "One down." He calls out to the others.

Rolling again and jumping up to a kneeling posture on the crest of the ridge, Hadrix's right knee pad opens to emit three rocket darts spiral out into the remaining ground forces. One of those munitions slamming into the ground to send up a spume of powdered green glass while two others strike true, center of mass, on the targets picked out by his targeting systems.

Bodies hurled back from the blast of each of the surprisingly powerful rockets when they go off, sending bodies flipping backwards.

The seeker droids all suddenly chime in over comms, giving indicators that they have a trace and were getting the projected location marked for the hunt.

The remaining three poachers trying to go back to back now, firing wildly at the Mandalorians that are closing in. Ben being fortunate enough to not be wearing that particular brand of armor while he adds to the mayhem they're all performing here today.

Narsai's cry joins the chorus with Sumi and the other warriors, a pair of bolts headed her way swiftly evaded before she turns and fires back, cutting one down and sending the last one ducking for cover. Blaster bolt or by spear, he would meet his end. Lowering her weapon, Narsai's gaze flicks up to her HUD to track the active counter of hostiles, seeing those last tags tick to '0' before she turns.

<"Anyone know if they got a call out?">

Narsai and Sumi end up near each other, as they always do on the battlefield; a deadly pairing. One is shot to death by the golden bolts of a Mandalore make blaster, and the final is about to turn when Sumi 'Hmphs' over her helmet emitter and throws her spear. The weapon catches them firmly in the torso and carries them backward, landing hard and dead well before their body struck the ground.

Sumi slowly closes the distance and places her hand upon the haft, yanking it free. <"Aw, no more?!">

Sumi plants the spear into the dirt/sand near Narsai and leans on it casually. Narsai's question is a good one, but Sumi is lost in the rush of adrenaline and dopamine from their fight. <"..good rekkin' gun fight..."> She's heard mumbling, waiting for confirmation that they knew their next target.

<"Search the dead.. I need more smokes.">

The rifle swiveled once more, looking for targets amidst the fog of war. The smoke and haze, the shots that miss kicking up more of it and the shouts mixed with the secondary explosions from that one flipped vehicle. It's a noisy place, and it takes a lot of focus to remain on target. He turns the sight toward the last two still standing, just in time to see Narsai lay into one with the W-35s, and then Sumi literally impale the last one with a spear. <"Huh."> I mean, he had seen her do it to the driver before, but STILL.

<"Huh..."> He lowered the rifle, flicking it on safety. The butt of it in the ground, he pushed himself back up to his feet before shaking his head. The sort of shake that said it was hard to believe what he just saw. The slide of his fingers under the sling and he just as smoothly pick the rifle up and slides it over a shoulder. <"I don't think we gave them enough time. But I'm pretty sure we still got one alive in the vehicle still, unless I'm mistaken. Alive, but not moving, I shot him in the first volley.">

So it's over, then. Ben wipes the soot off his forehead, trudging over to Sumi and Narsai with Five trailing behind him. "Here." He holds out a crumpled, hand-rolled cigarette to her before taking one for himself. Hand goes into his jacket for a battered flask, and he takes a long draught off it.

"What?" Relor barks into his comms as the Mandalorian on the ridge makes his assessment, turning to squint up at him. "There's still one more?" The young man goes to check it out, unless one of the intrepid warriors beats him to it. Which they very well might.

In which case, he'll keep drinking his cheap rotgut and smoke his fresh cigarette in peace.

Tarek Vizaan hmms a bit as he stands up and calls out over the comms. "Any injured? All I did was shoot.. I prefer patching people up." He then heads over to the vehicle and looks into it for moving people, if one happens to be moving he'll drag said person out in a not so gentle way and check for injuries beyond what he may have cause. "So, eh.. Didn't get to introduce myself. I'm Tarek Vizaan, Mando'ade."

<"Unfortunately that's how we were able to get the signal trace."> Zero pipes in, with Ca'tra, CNG-3Y3 and Gripper all confirming from where they hover. The silence descending over the battlefield rushing in like water from a great stone impacting a pond surface.

<<"We have a signal to work with.">> Hadrix confirms on comms as the final members of the survey team are eliminated. <<"I wouldn't be surprised that they're going to be clearing house, but we may have something to track from.">>

Speculation perhaps. But these Beskar Dar'roya, Iron Poachers, have been wily at the worst. Ghosts even. Keeping one step ahead and perhaps still do. But the Mandalorians have a lead thanks to the work by the spy droids.

There had been signals. Communication over encrypted frequencies. But they could be 'followed' for lack of better terms. But the Mandalorians, and Ben, had someone who could be interrogated.

Thirteen Hells of Kelebar II - there hadn't even been any injuries among the Mandalorians. A galactic record. Really. Not even the non-mandalorian got shot.

Small wonders. Go get your Galactic Lottery tickets.

But now the huntsmen of the Journeymen began to move out into the desert, one among them a Gand in specialized armor, ammonia being pumped into her helmet to give her The Visions.

<"Ur'daa will keep honored associates apprised and will welcome aid if they wish to assist her."> Waddling out, pausing as if sniffing something... looking into space.

Gands.